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In July 1212, a fire crossed the Thames and burned into London. Within days the mayor wrote rules for ordinary households: a tub of water before every door, no baking or brewing at night with straw, every thatched roof plastered within eight days.

This is the evening round a medieval house went through before bed: putting out every flame but the hearth, keeping water and a hook ready, shutting the house as the town gates closed, and the curfew bell that told every family to cover its fire. Then the last job, the one that had to keep the fire alive all night while stopping it from going anywhere. And what happened in 1666, when a baker on Pudding Lane said he had done exactly that and his bakehouse burned anyway.

Sources used in this video:

- London fire regulations of 1212, in P. Meadows (ed.), A Source Book of London History (1914), from the London Assizes; British History Online, London Record Society vol. 10

- Statute of Winchester, 13 Edward I (1285), chapter 4

- Liber Albus, ed. H. T. Riley (Rolls Series, 1859): London curfew ordinances, 1280s

- R. F. Hunnisett (ed.), Bedfordshire Coroners' Rolls (Bedfordshire Historical Records Society, 1961)

- Barbara A. Hanawalt, The Ties That Bound: Peasant Families in Medieval England (1986)

- C. M. Woolgar (2016) and N. W. Alcock (2014) on English peasant houses

- Alexander Carmichael, Carmina Gadelica, vol. 1 (1900): smooring the fire

- Victoria and Albert Museum, brass curfew, Holland, c. 1685 (94-1891)

- Gresham College, "London's Great Fire and its Aftermath"; The National Archives, Great Fire of London

- London Museum, "First witness to the Great Fire of London uncovered" (Sir Edward Harley's letter)

- National Fire Protection Association: home candle fires; home fire deaths by time of day

Safety note: this video describes a historical practice. Do not leave smouldering coals in an open hearth overnight in a modern home (fire and carbon monoxide risk). Use a stove designed for overnight burning and follow its instructions.

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